Authorities in China have forbidden Kraftwerk from performing at a music festival, more than a decade after the band once appeared on the bill for a Free Tibet concert at which they never actually played.

Modern Sky records, a Chinese music company, applied to the ministry of culture for permission for the band to play at the annual Strawberry festival in Beijing in April, according to AFP.

But a source at the firm, asking for anonymity for fear of reprisals, told the news agency: "Kraftwerk were not allowed to play ... because they participated in a Free Tibet concert.

"We had already arranged the show, it's a pity they can't come, it's a great shame."

Kraftwerk were scheduled to appear at a Free Tibet concert in Washington DC in 1998. The band pulled out after lightning strikes at the beginning of Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters' set on the first day. An impromptu free club concert that night for some ticket holders saw Michael Stipe of REM take a guest spot with Radiohead.

Indie rock band Travis will headline the Strawberry festival, the state-run Global Times reported, adding that Kraftwerk had been chosen to top the bill but the arrangement collapsed because of "political reasons" it did not specify.

Chinese authorities tightened their restrictions on foreign singers performing in the country after Elton John dedicated a concert in Beijing to the artist Ai Weiwei last November. Local police questioned the singer and allegedly asked his manager to sign a statement saying his supportive words were inspired only by admiration for Ai's art.

The English language edition of state-run newspaper Global Times attacked John and said his actions had "raised difficulties for future arts exchanges between China and other countries." Culture minister Cai Wu demanded that only stars with university degrees be allowed to play in China in future, according to two sources.

In 2011, Bob Dylan defended himself from allegations that he had allowed the Chinese government to censor his setlist for shows he played in Beijing and Shanghai.

On a post on his website, Dylan wrote: "The Chinese government had asked for the names of the songs that I would be playing. There's no logical answer to that, so we sent them the set lists from the previous 3 months. If there were any songs, verses or lines censored, nobody ever told me about it and we played all the songs that we intended to play."

Scrutiny of visiting musicians was increased in 2008 after Björk shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at the end of her song Declare Independence during a performance in Shanghai. China's ministry of culture later said that "[her] political show has not only broken Chinese laws and regulations, and hurt the feeling of Chinese people, but also went against the professional code of an artist".

Wham! became the first Western pop group to perform in China in April 1985. According to Simon Napier-Bell, the band's manager, George Michael tried to get the audience to clap along to Club Tropicana, but "they hadn't a clue – they thought he wanted applause and politely gave it".

Hits by Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Take That were among 100 songs placed on an internet blacklist by China's culture ministry in 2011, while in 1998, Guns N' Roses' album Chinese Democracy was banned. The Global Times decribed the long-awaited record as part of a Western plot to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn".

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